Tom Day, chief sustainability officer at the Postal Service, said the program has
two primary goals.

"One, that it's being properly disposed of, repurposed, reused, whatever the right
thing to do with the item is. And secondly, you want to do it securely," he said
on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin
and Emily Kopp.

Feds can recycle a range of electronics, from tablets and smartphones to small
printers and ink cartridges. These products can be either official agency property
or personal property belonging to federal employees.

And they don't have to travel far. Feds recycling their personal electronics
simply leave the box with their outgoing mail, or bring them into their office if
the
agency agrees.

"The great news for them, at least for their purposes, is the postage is free,"
Day said. "And we take care of that with our partner, who benefits from the fact
that they're getting electronic waste that still has value."

USPS has partnered with Clover Technologies Group. Day said the Postal Service handles
deliveries, while Clover takes care of the recycling process.

The agency launched the program in the spring of 2012. That year, USPS collected
1,300 tons of electronic waste.

The value from used electronics brings in money for the Postal Service. Even
though the agency is providing free postage, it still generated $750,000 in
revenue in 2012.

"It doesn't have to be the most recent device to have value," Day said. "There are
markets around the world where electronic devices can be repurposed. Not just
ground up and recycled, but literally reused."

Many agency electronics contain sensitive or classified data. Employees who
recycle their personal devices also want to ensure that their photos, passwords
and contact
information are fully erased.

Day said each agency is responsible for following its own security measures. The
Postal Service ensures its hard drives are wiped clean before disposing them.

"But to be absolutely sure and safe ... [Clover Technologies] makes sure the
drives are properly disposed of. And if it can't be repurposed, it's ground up so
that none of the data is being reused by anybody," he said. "It is a safe transfer
of the goods that come to us, in turn to Clover and in turn to them being properly
disposed of, repurposed or reused."

The BlueEarth Recycling Program works in a three-step process.

If an agency is signed up for the program, federal employees can go online and select the type
of electronics they plan to dispose.

Next, the website provides a label that feds can print and affix to the shipping
box.

Finally, they give the box to their postal carrier for pick-up.

"What's great for the Postal Service is this just becomes part of our routine,"
Day said.

Ten agencies so far have signed up for the program and are in various stages of
implementation.

"We've got memos of understanding, and they're all working to get the word out to
their own employees to get the programs established," Day said. "We want to get
everyone signed up in the federal sector as quickly as possible ... and provide
benefit to the Postal Service, to the agencies and really to the U.S. in general
that we're going to do the right thing and properly handle electronic waste in the
federal government."